Introduction: The ancestor of the meerkat would most likely be the miacis, one of the first carnivore mammals. The miacis is the ancestor of many modern day animals including wolves, felines, weasels and mongooses that lived during the Paleogene era (65 to 55 million years ago), shortly after the extinction of dinosaurs. The miacis is not closely studied because of the scarce fossil records of that family.
Miacis are members of the Miacidae family and since then they have evolved in to many different kinds of animals that are classified in to new or other families. The meerkat evolved from the Miacidae family to the Viverridae family, and finally to what they are today; the Herpestidae family.
artist's impression of the miacis from studying fossil
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Subphylum:
Verterbrata
Class:
mammalia
(unranked):
carnivoramorpha
Superfamily:
Miacoidea
Family:
Miacidae
Genus:
Miacis
Habitat The miacis originated from Europe and Asia. It is believed that the miacis lived in tropical forests or areas where there are densely vegetated areas.
Adaptations
Structural 1: 5 toes The miacis has 5 toes on each paw, they come in useful when handling prey and climbing trees. Unlike the modern meerkat, meerkats don’t have toes; instead they have claws on their paws used for digging. Mores toes meant that the miacis can climb more efficiently
Structural 2: long slim bodies The long, slim body of the miacis is simlar to today’s meerkat. A long, slim body enables the miacis to run faster to catch prey and run away from predators. It also makes them exceptional climbers because of their ability to crawl through branches in trees like a cat.
Behaviour 1: Solitary Most miacises roam alone but sometimes they stay together in pairs or small groups, unlike a meerkat group, which has around 20-50 members. This is adaption is probably more useful to a miacis than a meerkat because miacises are carnivores and don’t prefer sharing food.
Behaviour 2: leaving scent marks Miacases are very territorial, so they will deposit scent marks around their territory. This warns other miacis pairs or small group to stay away and keep their group numbers as low as possible to prevent other animals from eating their food.
Physiological: produce small litters Miacis pairs will produce 1-2 litters a year. Each litter contains 1-6 pups. Perhaps miacis pairs can only support up to 6 pups.
Extinction Pressure The miacis probably went extinct because of the ice age that followed in the Quaternary period. Those descendants of the miacis may have already started to evolve in to other species and the miacis remained fairly the same. As the ice age approached, there were less vegetation, leaving many herbivores to go extinct. Less herbivores meant that there were less food for carnivores such as the miacis. The miacis could not find enough food unlike their relatives the civets and linsangs whom they have already adapted to become omnivores.
Ancestor of Meerkats: Miacis
Introduction:
The ancestor of the meerkat would most likely be the miacis, one of the first carnivore mammals. The miacis is the ancestor of many modern day animals including wolves, felines, weasels and mongooses that lived during the Paleogene era (65 to 55 million years ago), shortly after the extinction of dinosaurs. The miacis is not closely studied because of the scarce fossil records of that family.
Miacis are members of the Miacidae family and since then they have evolved in to many different kinds of animals that are classified in to new or other families. The meerkat evolved from the Miacidae family to the Viverridae family, and finally to what they are today; the Herpestidae family.
Habitat
The miacis originated from Europe and Asia. It is believed that the miacis lived in tropical forests or areas where there are densely vegetated areas.
Adaptations
Structural 1: 5 toes
The miacis has 5 toes on each paw, they come in useful when handling prey and climbing trees. Unlike the modern meerkat, meerkats don’t have toes; instead they have claws on their paws used for digging. Mores toes meant that the miacis can climb more efficiently
Structural 2: long slim bodies
The long, slim body of the miacis is simlar to today’s meerkat. A long, slim body enables the miacis to run faster to catch prey and run away from predators. It also makes them exceptional climbers because of their ability to crawl through branches in trees like a cat.
Behaviour 1: Solitary
Most miacises roam alone but sometimes they stay together in pairs or small groups, unlike a meerkat group, which has around 20-50 members. This is adaption is probably more useful to a miacis than a meerkat because miacises are carnivores and don’t prefer sharing food.
Behaviour 2: leaving scent marks
Miacases are very territorial, so they will deposit scent marks around their territory. This warns other miacis pairs or small group to stay away and keep their group numbers as low as possible to prevent other animals from eating their food.
Physiological: produce small litters
Miacis pairs will produce 1-2 litters a year. Each litter contains 1-6 pups. Perhaps miacis pairs can only support up to 6 pups.
Extinction Pressure
The miacis probably went extinct because of the ice age that followed in the Quaternary period. Those descendants of the miacis may have already started to evolve in to other species and the miacis remained fairly the same. As the ice age approached, there were less vegetation, leaving many herbivores to go extinct. Less herbivores meant that there were less food for carnivores such as the miacis. The miacis could not find enough food unlike their relatives the civets and linsangs whom they have already adapted to become omnivores.
Bibliography